Beach 20
by NullNoMore
Summary: Doug goes to the beach with some friends. He's been to the beach before, not the same one, and not the same friends. All the good stuff belongs to Monolith Soft, and I am grateful they let me imagine Roo the Dork.


**Beach 2.0 (Hair prompt, 2.0)**

 **a/n: Doug and his friends spend a day on the beach. Years ago, Doug and his friends spent a day on the beach. Not the same beach, not the same friends.**

 **All the good things belong to Monolith Soft, and my Roo rocks the man bun. From a prompt released on the XCX Tumblr discord a-go-go.**

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 _[A] always keeps their hair up in a bun/ponytail/braid, with [B] noticing it, but never put too much thought in it. But during a special event [B] sees [A] with their hair down for the first time._

* * *

Roo surfaced, breaking the water with an exaggerated splash. He shook his head and water went flying off his wet hair. "Maaaaaan! I felt that elastic snapping. It's dead." Ropes of wet grey hair plastered his face. "Look at this mess."

"Just so long as you don't swim to Sylvalum to get a new hair band, I don't really care," Irina shouted back from her beach towel. "I will personally kill you if you pull that stunt again."

"I only did that once."

"Not what I heard from that kid you scouted. This week."

"Oh, that." Roo looked guilty for precisely one second, then smiled. "It was fun."

"You were gone an extra two days."

"We cleared a tyrant on the beach there."

"Eight times. You were supposed to test some Outfitter junk and come back. Doug told me Alexa is still pissed at you. Right, Doug?" Irina elbowed the man sitting on a plaid blanket spread next to her more colorful towel.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Doug responded quietly. He glanced down towards his fellow blanket dwellers. Lin was snoring slightly, using a round Nopon as a pillow. Tatsu's snores were not slight.

"Don't worry," said Irina. "Those two ate so much watermelon, I don't think they're going to wake for days."

"I'm not worried." They watched the aquatic Pathfinder resume his enthusiastic splashing. Roo seemed to be imitating a cross between a seal and an over-excited Labrador puppy.

Irina shook her head and spoke to Doug again. "Penny for your thoughts."

"I was thinking about Earth."

"Oh."

Xcxcxcxcxcxcxc

They'd been lucky enough to all have leave on the same Saturday, so they'd made the effort to meet at the lake. Doug had cheerfully helped lug the mountain of baby gear from the parking lot down to the small beach. They needn't have bothered. Chenshi spent the whole afternoon gurgling happily on their oversized island of a blanket. Even when she crept to the edge to sample a handful of illicit sand, she wasn't imprisoned in the portable playpen. After he'd cleaned her mouth with a swipe of a finger, Lao had tossed and tickled his daughter. Both father and daughter had ignored Charmaine's scolding.

The day had slid into evening. Charmaine had started packing early, and had taken a small load up to their car, leaving Chenshi to drool and burble at Doug's hip. Lao had announced he was going for one last swim. Doug warned him he was on his own if he got into trouble, since he was on guard duty, protecting Princess Sugar from sand fleas. But Lao had laughed and swum off, not too far from shore. When Charmaine had returned, she'd sat next to Doug and they'd both watched the sky change over the water.

Lao hadn't stayed out long. He'd returning after a few minutes, flicking his long hair out of his eyes and complaining about the chill. He'd leaned over Charmaine to drip on her and she'd shrieked and pushed him away without actually pushing. Doug had declared he'd protect Chenshi with his own body if necessary, which had gotten him immediately splattered as a reward. Chenshi had given a string of precious baby giggles at the few gentle drops that Lao had carefully let fall onto her forehead.

Then they'd packed the last of the pointless gear and headed back. They'd let him carry Chenshi back to parking lot. He'd waved until their car had gone through the gate before getting into his own and that had been the end of a perfect day.

Xcxcxcxcxcxc

Roo walked up the sand to flop at their feet. "Do not drip on me," hissed Irina.

"Don't worry. I want to live." He pushed his hair out of his face impatiently. "This blows. How can I see anything with all this in the way? Hey, you think Lin will let me borrow her hair clips?"

"You'd look ridiculous."

"Just so long as I can see."

Doug coughed. "I think there's a spare O-ring in the emergency kit. It might work."

Roo perked up. "Excellent. I don't want to wreck my skell or anything." When Doug didn't reply with a comment about Roo and his important role in the skell insurance industry, Roo shot him a careful glance. "You look cold. Ready to head back?"

"Sure. Let me carry some picnic gear to the skells first."

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 **a/n: This prompt inspired the last extra bit in Inktober #32 Coffee, a very different feel. But I remembered that I had another long haired OC. Roo is my Cross, and he rocks the man-bun because I figured, if I'm going to see the back of his head for (100) (200) (700) hours, it should be interesting.**


End file.
